Friday Public Art Blogging: St. Louis City Garden

by: hotflash

Fri Jul 24, 2009 at 15:59:43 PM CDT

On the Fourth of July weekend, the city of St. Louis opened a playground/garden/art exhibit called City Garden. It encompasses two city blocks with water features the kids can play in, native plants beautifully arranged, and sculptures.

The guide that the nice administrators give visitors says about the head spouting children out of its eyes:

Eros Bendato [Eros Bound] has the feel of an ancient relic that has been excavated and reconstructed. Artist Igor Mitoraj is inspired by ancient cultures and particularly characters from Greek and Roman mythology. In this sculpture, the dismembered head of Eros, the Greek god of love and desire, lies on its side. The bandages that wrap Eros's face suggest that the eyes and mouth have been covered, indicating that desires and ideas have been imprisoned. The bandages also symbolize two opposing views of the world--either that civilization is broken beyond repair, or that it is being held together despite destructive forces.

Hmmm. Maybe. But the little girls just think it's fun to peek out of the eyes. One of them told me that the statue needs to blow his nose.

Here's what the park people have to say about Kindly Gepetto:

American sculptor, Tom Otterness, creates cast bronze sculptures inspired by fairy tales, cartoons and early animation. His work often appears comical but carries a serious message. In Kindly Gepetto, Gepetto, a carpenter and the fictional creator of Pinnochio, is about to hammer the poor puppet. Pinnochio wants only to be a real boy, but first he must prove himself truthful and be able to tell right from wrong. Otterness explores this complicated relationship between the creator and his creation.

Ya think? I dunno. That sounds like a fancy schmancy analysis of a sculptor with a slightly warped sense of whimsy.

Friday Public Art Blogging - "Sky Spirit"

by: Michael Bersin

Fri Jul 03, 2009 at 09:42:12 AM CDT

"Sky Spirit" - Sabra Tull Meyer - 1998

"Sky Spirit", a bronze sculpture by Sabra Tull Meyer, is located at Les Bourgeois Vineyards in Rocheport, Missouri - just up the hill from the bluffs overlooking the Missouri River .

Sabra Tull Meyer is a sculptor who has worked in bronze for over 30 years. Her sculptures include; human figures, small to monumental in scale, portrait busts, memorial plaques and wild life subjects. Her work may be seen in numerous public locations and found in private collections across the nation. She is a native Missourian with a Master of Arts and Master of Fine Arts degrees from the University of Missouri. Her experience includes teaching at Stephens College, Columbia, Missouri and William Woods University, Fulton, Missouri. She is listed in the archives of The National Museum of Women in the Arts. She is an Associate Member of the National Sculpture Society, member of the Oklahoma Sculpture Society, Museum Associates, Columbia Art League, and the State Historical Society of Missouri.

Friday public art blogging: Dining at the governor's mansion

by: hotflash

Fri Jun 12, 2009 at 11:46:50 AM CDT

I stood next to a decorative sideboard (shown later) to take this picture and looked across the dining table at one of the fireplaces in the room. The other is to the right of where I stood, on the end wall.

Notice anything odd about the piece of furniture to the left of the fireplace?

Friday Public Art Blogging: Take Wing!

by: Michael Bersin

Fri Jun 05, 2009 at 06:00:00 AM CDT

Take Wing! - at an entrance to the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine - on Hospital Hill in Kansas City.

...Take Wing is a bronze sculpture cast from a small carving made in 1952 by E. Grey Dimond, MD, Provost Emeritus for the Health Sciences, from a piece of driftwood he found on the beach while visiting Carmel, Calif. His daughter, Lark, had the sculpture enlarged and cast in bronze. That sculpture now stands in front of the UMKC School of Medicine encouraging students and alumni to "Take Wing" and soar to new heights in their careers after they leave the school.

"In that first stay at Carmel, I found a small piece of redwood drift and, there on the beach, carved from it a wing, a free-form wing. Forty years later, this carving was cast in bronze, large-size, and placed in front of the medical school. The wing, the memory of the moment of finding the wood, the beauty and free spirit of the location - all these things made me name the piece Take Wing, and hope that it stands there as a symbol of the life I wish for each graduate." - E. Grey Dimond, MD

From his autobiography, "Take Wing! Interesting Things That Happened On My Way To School"

Friday public art blogging: foyer at the governor's mansion

by: hotflash

Fri May 29, 2009 at 10:00:00 AM CDT

Opposite the seating area is this ... hmm. I wonder if they actually store anything in that elegant cabinet.

Pictures of first ladies adorn the walls in the foyer and the main parlor. These two photos show the walls on either side of the door into the dining room.

Friday Public Art Blogging: Thomas Hart Benton's Mural in the Capitol

by: hotflash

Fri May 01, 2009 at 08:17:54 AM CDT

All anybody had or has to do to see the work is go to the third floor on the west side of the building and walk through these doors:

Once it was finished, though, the mural suffered, from a variety of causes: from people picking at it with their nails to see how hard the paint was, not to mention from heat, birds and smoke from nearby factories when the windows were open. In 1960, Benton hired a preservationist to help him restore the mural, and from then on the room was air conditioned and humidity controlled. The mural will probably outlast the building.

The North Wall shows scenes from the early settlement of the state: pioneers heading here and tilling the soil, a settler trading whiskey with an Osage Indian, the use of slaves to do manual work, a worker swinging an axe, a blacksmth forging a wheel. Above the door, Huck Finn and Jim enjoy fishing on the Mississippi.

If you'd like to see the painting enlarged, click here and click on large.

Friday Public Art Blogging - "Squares + Movement = ( )"

by: Michael Bersin

Fri Apr 10, 2009 at 09:35:26 AM CDT

Jerry L. Miller - "Squares + Movement = ( )" - (1985) - on the campus of the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg

...He installed this sculpture in 1985. It was built so the viewer could manipulate the parts and become actively involved with the work and the design process.

Friday Public Art Blogging: Missouri's history in marble

by: hotflash

Fri Apr 03, 2009 at 10:32:21 AM CDT

It is believed by many historians that De Soto explored our region while pursuing his dream to find a northern passageway to China back in 1541. After "discovering the Mississippi River", he crossed from Kaskaskia (Illinois) into our region, meeting five different tribes of Native Americans along his trek through what is now Southern Missouri continuing on into Arkansas.

White men were sparse as hen's teeth, though, for the next 130 years. Then the influx began.

It was not until 1673, when Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet (who are most often credited with the discovery of Missouri) sailed down the Mississippi River in canoes along the area that would later become Missouri. The two established that the Mississippi River ran all the way to the sea. In 1682, Robert de LaSalle claimed the Louisiana Territory for France ("New France" or Louisiana, was named to honor Louis XIV).

Soon French settlers were establishing trading posts and forts in the new territory. During the early years of French occupation, trade with the Indians was the only major industry.

More below the fold.

Friday Public Art Blogging - "Petra"

by: Michael Bersin

Fri Mar 27, 2009 at 08:00:00 AM CDT

"Petra" (1992) - Kathleen Caricof-Burns - on the campus of the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg - installed 1993

Kathi [Caricof-Burns] grew up near the sea, and her work reflects the motion and the timelesness that the ocean holds. Her work is a balance between abstract motion, and representation of her subject. Kathi's work as a stone sculptor is recognized in both commercial and residential spaces.

Friday Public Art Blogging - "Equiponderation"

by: Michael Bersin

Fri Mar 20, 2009 at 09:09:01 AM CDT

Philip Uyeda - "Equipondation"

Philip created "Equipondation" with attention to it's surroundings in mind. The sculpture is meant to challenge all that pass by the piece, asking them to think and feel the piece. The piece was created with steel in a combination of welding and blacksmithing techniques.

Equipondation Equiponderation (1994) - Philip Uyeda - on the campus of the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg